Submitted Surname Revision History

Recorded in several forms including Dowsett, Dosset, and Dossit, this is an English surname.

It is one of the groups of early European surnames that were gradually created from the habitual use of nicknames. These were given with reference to a variety of distinguishing features, among them physical attributes or peculiarities, and mental and moral characteristics. In this case, the surname derives from the post 1066 Norman word "doucet", a diminutive of the Old French "doux or dous", meaning sweet to the eye. This in later Middle English became dowcet.

As a nickname, this epithet would have been applied to one thought to be particularly agreeable in disposition, or perhaps given the robust humour of the period - the complete reverse!